Her Best Present
by Kat Lee formerly Pirate Turner
Summary: She always wakes before everybody else on Christmas, but she receives her most special present Christmas Eve and every day and night. 12th in Will's/Kit's 2012 12 Days of Christmas stories for my beloved Jack/Drew and our darling babies.


Title: "Her Best Present"  
Author: Pirate Turner  
Dedicated To: This is the 12th Christmas story of my 12 Days of Christmas 2012 series for my beloved and wonderful husband, Jack aka Drew, who's always such an inspiration, and also our sweet children! Thank you, my darling soul mate! I love you!  
Rating: G  
Summary: She always wakes before everybody else on Christmas, but she receives her most special present Christmas Eve and every day and night.  
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, names, codenames, places, items, fandoms, titles, and etc. are always © & TM their respective owners, not the author, and are used without permission. Any and all original characters and everything else is © & TM the author and may not be reproduced in any way without the author's express, written permission. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.  
Author's Note: 244. That's the number of stories that were sitting on my hard drive collecting dust because I lack the energy and time to take care of them as I once did. My betaing pattern has always been to write, then type up if written on paper, the story, read it aloud to my beloved Jack and our children, editing as I go, and then finally format and post. Sadly, this part is simply taking too much of my time and energy, and my beloved Jack and I have too little time together in person these days to be able to keep up with my stories. So what to do? Give up writing? I actually considered it for a while, tried to make excuses to myself other than the large number of stories collecting cyber dust on my computer, as to why I lacked the energy and Muse to write new tales. And then, with the turn of the new year, I decided to stop running and face the problem. The problem is, quite frankly, that once one gets so bogged down in formatting and editing that writing is no longer a pleasure but the actual posting of those writings becomes a hassle and - egad! - work, it's time to cut something out, and that will never be the writing process. So, in short, yes, there will be mistakes in this tale. Yes, it's missing about half of the header information I usually include. But I wrote it for pleasure and am posting it in hopes of sharing that pleasure with others. Do with it as you will.

She listened to the other girls titter on about what they wanted for Christmas and their ideal Christmas. They wanted snow and the latest fashions. They wanted gold, silver, and - she could never hear a conversation turn that way without shuddering - furs. They wanted the very finest of everything, but what they most especially wanted was an escapade with a handsome Prince underneath mistletoe. Even her usually wise sister, Susan, now that she was older, had turned her imagination to what kind of man she might find underneath the mistletoe.

Lucy found it all really rather disgusting and pathetic. Christmas wasn't about gifts. It wasn't about who one might get to kiss underneath the mistletoe or romantic trysts of any sorts. Truthfully, though she enjoyed them, it wasn't even about snow or Santa or family get togethers. It was one day out of the year set aside more than any other to celebrate something that should be celebrated every day and to honor Some One whom a body should never stop honoring and doing all they could to please.

So it was that as the other girls talked nonstop about what they expected to get underneath the Christmas tree or who they longed to find beneath the mistletoe, Lucy, as usual in their companionship, kept her tongue. She listened, but she never spoke. What was there to say? To remind her sister yet again that she was so sadly misguided? That she was forgetting what every moment of their lives should truly be about?

She had debated the adventures of their youth many times with her older sister, but with each passing year, Susan seemed increasingly more determined to forget all they had learned in that special land to which Lucy herself never ceased in wanting to return. She could debate the matter with her sister again, but all she would win would be a disruption of the peace she had, at one time, so sorely sought.

There was nothing she could really win from arguing with Susan. Aslan Himself had told her this time would come and that it was right for it to happen, so she listened to the other girls titter on, shook her head, and kept her tongue and that Christmas Eve night, when her head finally hit her own pillow, she was rewarded for a Prince truly did wait for her. He didn't need mistletoe to come to her nor did Christmas have any real baring on Him or on when He appeared. He needed only for her to have an open heart, and Lucy was determined that, for him, her heart would always be open.

He came to her on quiet, cat paws. His size dwarfed her as it always had. She reached out and touched his fur, remembering again, with a shudder, how so many of the other girls wanted to wear animals' furs on their human bodies. It didn't matter to them that the animals would have to be slaughtered for their furs to be removed. His regal nose touched her temple, and for a night, all that was forgotten.

She forgot about the world she had to live in. She forgot about the horrors of that world and the evils the people did and wanted to have done in their names. She forgot, even, about Susan, the rest of their family, and their doubts. For a time that night, she remembered only Him and that she was again with Him.

He lowered before her, and she climbed happily unto his back. They ran together through the forests, over the hillsides and seasides, and across the very oceans. As they journeyed together, it felt as though He had wings for His feet barely touched the earth, and being with Him gave her heart wings to soar. There was snow, and if she'd been asked, she would be quite certain that they'd passed mistletoe amongst the woods. But that didn't matter. All that mattered was that she was with Him again; she was where she belonged.

As always, she wanted her time with him to last forever, but it couldn't - at least, not quite yet. It was only when He stopped their journey that thoughts of the world she had left behind began to return to her. Lucy didn't want to go to what should be considered her home. She was home now because she was made whole by His presence and knew she would again feel sort of lost, and definitely misplaced, when she really did return home.

But return she must. She knew that before He bowed down again to let her climb off of His mighty back. She knew it before He looked at her with those eyes that were simultaneously the most beautiful and regal thing she'd ever seen and yet so full of sadness. She knew it before He kissed her temple and told her in His quiet, deep, and humbling voice, "You are never lost, My child." His mane fluttered against her cheek as He laid his head against her small breast, His ear pressing closely against her heart. "I am always with you."

"I know," she cried, throwing her arms around Him and hugging Him tightly, "but I don't want this to end!" Being with him was always the most magical moments of her life. This was her favorite thing about Christmas, far beyond any snow or mistletoe, far beyond Santa and whatever gifts mankind could give her. He had given her no gifts that could be seen, but yet had also given her the most treasured gifts she could ever receive. He had given her His love and eternal life. She knew she'd have forever with Him one day, but she wanted forever to begin now.

"It is not yet time, Lucy Pevensie, but I will return for you again."

"I know," she sobbed into His mane, holding him as closely as she could, "but I wish I didn't have to go back!"

"There is still much for you to accomplish, My Daughter. You are still needed."

"I need you."

He kissed her cheek. "And you shall have Me, little one, always. Merry Christmas, Lucy."

She blinked at Him through her tears. "Happy birthday, Aslan!" He opened His great mouth and roared. She felt all of his enormous and undying love and gratitude in that mighty roar as it blew over her, pushing all of her long, brown hair away from her face and completely surrounding her with his breath. She hung on tightly to Him, but when He kissed her forehead again, though she'd not moved physically, she knew where she would reopen her eyes again.

She felt Him leave her arms but knew He would remain forever in her heart. He would again for her, too. She might not even have to wait until Christmas again to be with Him once more. He would bring her to Him when the time was again right, and Lucy's one wish, as she slowly opened her eyes again in the mundane, mortal world that she had once called the land of Spare Oom, was that that would happen again soon.

It would be a merry Christmas, she thought, drying her eyes and feeling her heart warm at the knowledge that, even though He was not where she could see Him now, He was still with her. Another quiet roar whispered throughout the large house that served as her family's physical home, confirming her thoughts and reminding her that He would always be there. Lucy slipped from her bed and headed down for the Christmas tree.

She would start breakfast, and her family would tease her again about how she couldn't wait for Santa to deliver her presents and that was why she was always beat every one else awake on this holiday. Grinning, she hugged herself. One day, they'd remember the truth that she would never forget. She was blessed, she was loved, and she already had the best presents any one could ever give her because of Aslan and His undying love. He was her Christmas miracle, but not just her Christmas miracle. He was her miracle, and her best present, every day of every year forever. Amen!

**The End**


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